Kalinihta my dears,
I hope that you survived your humpdays – Thursday here we come! Unfortunately we’re supposed to have a rainy week/weekend ahead, which is all well and good for flowers and leaves, but I’m craving sun like a kindergardener’s wilting bouquet…
Thankfully, though, life has been very busy. I’ve been given a few new projects at work that bring me from 9 to 5 in half a second, and my evenings are filled with friends, the boy, and my favorite physical activities (running, shredding, pilates, etc.) It helps pass the rainy days. Blogging helps, too, and Dolce is thrilled that I’ve decided to skip today’s run (I ran yesterday and the day before) in favor of writing this post early, sipping my favorite Lady Grey tea, and lazing about with a few episodes of True Blood (I am so excited I am so excited). The purring rumbling up from my lap is positively seductive; I really have no choice but to stick around ;D
Speaking of sticking around..{see what I did there? teehee, nice segue into foodie goodness} I bought a package of Van’s Homestyle Gluten-free Waffles and (oops) accidentally left them out so that all of them thawed. I’ve been spending my mornings working through them because I don’t like to refreeze, and I’m so glad that I gave myself the opportunity to! Toaster waffles take two seconds to make and they’re so good. A nice variation from the daily oats/buckwheat.
Delicious. I love blueberries and waffles and the bananas were so sweet and smooth that it was almost like eating whipped cream!
I slathered them with jam the next morning for a hearty, sweet version of the same thing <3
I’ve decided to talk a little bit about leftovers today, something I run into almost every other day given the fact that I’m usually cooking just for me.(When the boy is around, there are rarely any bites left to save ^~) My issue with leftovers, however, is that I often find it boring to eat the same meal again and again. To avoid that, I change simple things, such as toppings, sauces and bases, to make different meals out of similar ingredients, and I love looking to the blog world for inspiration. The last couple of days have been perfect examples.
For a classic lunchtime trick, I love to ‘beef up’ my salads by tossing leftovers of side dishes from the day before. This keeps my salads interesting and so very hearty (necessary when you’re trying to make it through a workday on, well, lettuce.) Remember the Jamaican sweet potatoes that we grilled in my last post? Well, there weren’t enough leftover to make a meal, in fact, there were only four wedges or so, enough to merit a toss into the bin as “too little” to do much good. Rookie mistake, readers! These leftovers are the best things in the WORLD for salads. See?
Sweet potatoes are the best things ~ever~ to "meal up" a salad. Also pictured? Leftover tomato/parsley/salad tossed in.
Now, after making this salad, I was left with an lackluster pile of wilting kale that I wasn’t in the mood to make another salad with. To the blogworld for inspiration, which led me to Kale Chips:
Into the oven they went, roasted at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes with olive oil and salt :3
The result? A crunchy pile of kale chips that would otherwise have been tossed. Dolch clearly approved of my first salty attempt!
Leftover batch round two consisted of the rarely blogged Miss favorite: Octopus. As you may recall, one of my favorite meals ever is a salad with freshly grilled octopus. I set out to make it, so I bought some salad greens as well as a bag of mixed seafood that included octopus, mussels, shrimp and squid. I cooked up the whole bag (that had , according to the directions,) and enjoyed the salad I’d been craving:
Serving #1: Picking the octopus out from my seafood selection was tedious, but so worth it <3
For serving #2, I threw the grilled seafood on top of some shirataki noodles with salt, olive oil and lemon for a refreshingly light pasta dinner.
And to use up the rest for meal #3? I cooked up some fresh marinara, added some chili flakes for spice and enjoyed a heartier, spicy version of the meal before. Delish!
- What are your favorite leftovers? My fridge could never be too full of grilled veggies ;D
- Do you plan meals based on enjoying them over the next couple of days? I definitely mix big leftover-producing meals with smaller single-serving ones throughout the week. Leftovers from big meals certainly save time, though, when I arrive home ravenous from a day of work.
I like the idea of planning my recipes with the leftovers in mind. A main meal, leftovers used creatively for lunch the next day, with the remainder being finished off as a side/component to the next dinner. I’m going to try to plan my bigger meals this way from now on as throwing food away is completely unnacceptable. Here is the plan for the next installment of the”leftover series”
- Ratatouille -> Ratatouille on Pasta -> Ratatouille leftovers atop savory oats
- What kind of leftover recipes can you come up with? It’s harder than you’d think, I appreciate your help!! haha
The rest of my foodie pictures are of lunchtime eats that definitely yielded no leftovers this week, (excuse the blackberry quality!)
A very very BIG salad with broccoli, tomatoes, grilled zuch and grilled eggplant
Citrus Red Snapper Carpaccio with grapefruit, avocado, lemon, fresh peppers and cilantro. To die for.
Salmon Sashimi with Brown Rice and Miso Soup, seriously one of my favorite meals.
Couldn't resist posting another one. Honestly, the way to this girl's heart is with chopsticks and a big 'ole slab of raw fish. Attractive, no? ^~
That’s all for this miss tonight. Time to grab another mug of tea, watch one last episode and head for bed with the boys. I’m looking forward to reading your suggestions!
Oh, but before I go, HUGE welcomes to my new readers. I’m thrilled to be meeting so many wonderful new people, and I get such kicks out of your comments. The fact that you took the time to leave me a quick note means the world to me 
Thank you so much!
Kalinihta my dears,
I hope that you survived your humpdays – Thursday here we come! Unfortunately we’re supposed to have a rainy week/weekend ahead, which is all well and good for flowers and leaves, but I’m craving sun like a kindergardener’s wilting bouquet…
Thankfully, though, life has been very busy. I’ve been given a few new projects at work that bring me from 9 to 5 in half a second, and my evenings are filled with friends, the boy, and my favorite physical activities (running, shredding, pilates, etc.) It helps pass the rainy days. Blogging helps, too, and Dolce is thrilled that I’ve decided to skip today’s run (I ran yesterday and the day before) in favor of writing this post early, sipping my favorite Lady Grey tea, and lazing about with a few episodes of True Blood (I am so excited I am so excited). The purring rumbling up from my lap is positively seductive; I really have no choice but to stick around ;D
Speaking of sticking around..{see what I did there? teehee, nice segue into foodie goodness} I bought a package of Van’s Homestyle Gluten-free Waffles and (oops) accidentally left them out so that all of them thawed. I’ve been spending my mornings working through them because I don’t like to refreeze, and I’m so glad that I gave myself the opportunity to! Toaster waffles take two seconds to make and they’re so good. A nice variation from the daily oats/buckwheat.
Delicious. I love blueberries and waffles and the bananas were so sweet and smooth that it was almost like eating whipped cream!
I slathered them with jam the next morning for a hearty, sweet version of the same thing <3
I’ve decided to talk a little bit about leftovers today, something I run into almost every other day given the fact that I’m usually cooking just for me.(When the boy is around, there are rarely any bites left to save ^~) My issue with leftovers, however, is that I often find it boring to eat the same meal again and again. To avoid that, I change simple things, such as toppings, sauces and bases, to make different meals out of similar ingredients, and I love looking to the blog world for inspiration. The last couple of days have been perfect examples.
For a classic lunchtime trick, I love to ‘beef up’ my salads by tossing leftovers of side dishes from the day before. This keeps my salads interesting and so very hearty (necessary when you’re trying to make it through a workday on, well, lettuce.) Remember the Jamaican sweet potatoes that we grilled in my last post? Well, there weren’t enough leftover to make a meal, in fact, there were only four wedges or so, enough to merit a toss into the bin as “too little” to do much good. Rookie mistake, readers! These leftovers are the best things in the WORLD for salads. See?
Sweet potatoes are the best things ~ever~ to "meal up" a salad. Also pictured? Leftover tomato/parsley/salad tossed in.
Now, after making this salad, I was left with an lackluster pile of wilting kale that I wasn’t in the mood to make another salad with. To the blogworld for inspiration, which led me to Kale Chips:
Into the oven they went, roasted at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes with olive oil and salt :3
The result? A crunchy pile of kale chips that would otherwise have been tossed. Dolch clearly approved of my first salty attempt!
Leftover batch round two consisted of the rarely blogged Miss favorite: Octopus. As you may recall, one of my favorite meals ever is a salad with freshly grilled octopus. I set out to make it, so I bought some salad greens as well as a bag of mixed seafood that included octopus, mussels, shrimp and squid. I cooked up the whole bag (that had , according to the directions,) and enjoyed the salad I’d been craving:
Serving #1: Picking the octopus out from my seafood selection was tedious, but so worth it <3
For serving #2, I threw the grilled seafood on top of some shirataki noodles with salt, olive oil and lemon for a refreshingly light pasta dinner.
And to use up the rest for meal #3? I cooked up some fresh marinara, added some chili flakes for spice and enjoyed a heartier, spicy version of the meal before. Delish!
I like the idea of planning my recipes with the leftovers in mind. A main meal, leftovers used creatively for lunch the next day, with the remainder being finished off as a side/component to the next dinner. I’m going to try to plan my bigger meals this way from now on as throwing food away is completely unnacceptable. Here is the plan for the next installment of the”leftover series”
The rest of my foodie pictures are of lunchtime eats that definitely yielded no leftovers this week, (excuse the blackberry quality!)
A very very BIG salad with broccoli, tomatoes, grilled zuch and grilled eggplant
Citrus Red Snapper Carpaccio with grapefruit, avocado, lemon, fresh peppers and cilantro. To die for.
Salmon Sashimi with Brown Rice and Miso Soup, seriously one of my favorite meals.
Couldn't resist posting another one. Honestly, the way to this girl's heart is with chopsticks and a big 'ole slab of raw fish. Attractive, no? ^~
That’s all for this miss tonight. Time to grab another mug of tea, watch one last episode and head for bed with the boys. I’m looking forward to reading your suggestions!
Oh, but before I go, HUGE welcomes to my new readers. I’m thrilled to be meeting so many wonderful new people, and I get such kicks out of your comments. The fact that you took the time to leave me a quick note means the world to me
Thank you so much!